Method and Apparatus for Storing and Dispensing Bagged Ice

ABSTRACT

An article storage and dispensing apparatus and method in which articles made by series production are distributed from an article supplier into a storage compartment of predetermined dimensions for storage of articles in front and rear rows of article storage positions. An article distributor in an upper portion of the storage compartment has a carriage, a carriage drive which is configured to drive the carriage in a reversible horizontal carriage drive direction across at least part of the width of the storage compartment, and an article support mounted on the carriage and configured to receive articles from the article supplier above the support when the carriage is in a start position. An article dispenser is associated with the article support to dispense articles selectively in opposite horizontal dispensing directions transverse to the carriage drive direction off the front and rear ends of the support to drop into front and rear article rows.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a method and apparatus for storing anddispensing articles, particularly bagged ice pieces or ice cubes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Articles manufactured by series production, particularly packagedarticles such as bagged candy, bagged ice cubes, and the like, are oftendispensed into a storage compartment of a refrigerated ice dispensingunit located in a store. Machines for making ice and delivering bagswith loose ice cubes may be deployed in supermarkets. Such machines aredesigned with a top part with an ice cube machine and a central packingmachine packing the ice cubes loosely in bags, and a lower part with astorage compartment from which the filled ice cube bags are supplied asthe customer opens an access door to the storage compartment, providinghimself or herself with a desired number of ice cube bags.

One problem with many such machines is that the bags fall down into thestorage compartment over the same position. Over time, a stack of bagsforms a pyramid. This causes the storage compartment to be badlyutilized as it can only be partially filled, resulting in low capacityfor a storage compartment of a given size. The pyramid of stacked bagsrapidly reaches the top of the compartment, so bags cannot be addeduntil some are removed for purchase. The problem has hitherto beensolved by the staff in the supermarket performing a manual leveling ofthe ice cube bags in the storage compartment at short intervals.

Bagged ice dispensers or storage compartments may be dimensioned with arelatively high capacity in order to cope with peak loads. These mayoccur, for example, in connection with festivals or other events, orwhen the outdoor temperature rises suddenly because of change inweather. Ice making units of such dispensers may be unable to keep upwith demand on such occasions, and stores then typically have bags ofice delivered by refrigerated trucks, requiring store personnel totransport the bags of ice from the truck to the storage compartment.

Both manual leveling and re-stocking of refrigerated ice dispensingunits is a problem due to work safety considerations that limit the timein which the employees are allowed to work with frozen products, and adesire to release the employees' resources for other purposes in thesupermarket.

Applicant's US Pat. App. Pub. No. 2012-0070264 describes a method andapparatus for distributing articles such as bags of ice into stacks intwo side-by-side rows extending across the storage compartment orfreezer compartment of an ice dispensing machine. This alleviates someof the problems encountered in prior art bagged ice dispensers. Thisapparatus has an article support which is moved in a first, horizontaldirection back and forth above the two rows, and which is also rotatedbetween first and second positions for dispensing articles intorespective rows.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the invention to provide a relatively compact andsimple apparatus and method that evenly distributes articles, inparticular bags containing ice cubes, in a storage compartment,particularly in an ice cube distribution machine in a supermarket, aswell as other applications involving distribution of serially producedarticles in a storage compartment where distribution of the articles inan even layer is wanted.

In one embodiment, an apparatus for distributing articles from anarticle supplier into a storage compartment is provided, which comprisesa storage compartment having an upper end, a lower end, opposite sides,a front and a rear, the compartment being of predetermined dimensionsfor storage of stacked articles in front and rear stacked article rowswhich extend side-by-side across a storage area, each stacked articlerow having a plurality of article stacking positions along its length,an article distributor in an upper region of the storage compartmenthaving a carriage associated with a carriage drive device which isconfigured to drive the carriage back and forth in a horizontal carriagedrive direction, an article support mounted on the carriage andconfigured to receive articles from an article supplier above thesupport when in a first, article receiving position, the article supporthaving opposite front and rear ends above the front and rear row,respectively, an article dispenser on the carriage configured to adispense an article on the support selectively in opposite dispensingdirections transverse to the carriage drive direction off the front andrear ends of the support to drop into a selected stacking position inthe front and rear article rows. This is simpler and more compact thanthe prior apparatus since no rotation of the support is required and thearticles are dropped into the two rows in the same orientation.

Articles may be dropped onto the lower wall or floor of the storagecompartment for stacking and dispensing purposes, or a wheeled storagecart may alternatively be positioned in the storage compartment todefine a storage area to receive stacks of articles in two rows. In thelatter case, bags of ice or other articles may be retrieved by customersfrom the cart, or the cart may be removed and placed in a freezerstorage area at the back of a store when filled to the desired capacity.Carts at the desired fill capacity may be replaced by empty carts asneeded, and in times of high demand previously loaded carts may beretrieved and positioned in the storage compartment for dispensingpurposes as needed.

In one embodiment, the storage compartment is relatively small andcompact, so it does not take up a significant amount of space in astore, and may be dimensioned to receive two stacks of articles at therear and two stacks of articles at the front of the storage area in agenerally square array, either on the floor of the compartment or in awheeled storage cart positioned in the storage area. A larger storagecompartment for storing bags in three or more stacks per row may beprovided in alternative embodiments.

In one embodiment, the article support comprises an article conveyorbelt on the carriage and the dispenser comprises a second drive deviceconfigured to drive the conveyor belt in opposite front and reardirections to drive articles off the front and rear ends of the articleconveyor belt, each article being received on the conveyor belt in afirst orientation in which one side of the article faces upwards.

In one embodiment, a control system or controller is provided forcontrolling operation of the first and second drive devices to dispensearticles into predetermined locations in the respective article rows, sothat the heights of stacks of articles in each row are relativelyuniform and space in the storage compartment is efficiently utilized.The control system may be similar to that described in US Pat. App. Pub.No. 2012-0070264 referenced above, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference. One or more detectors may bepositioned for detecting the height of the article stacks at eachstacking position in the two side-by-side article rows, and a drivecontrol module associated with the drive devices determines the sequencefor selection of the stacking position for dispensing or discharging ofeach article according to the following steps:

-   detecting degree of filling in each stacking position in the two    side-by-side rows of stacking positions in the storage compartment;-   comparing degrees of filling;-   selecting a discharge position on the basis of the comparison, so    that articles are dispensed at stacking positions having a lower    degree of filling. The controller controls the carriage drive to    drive the carriage to a position corresponding to lower fill    stacking position in one of the rows, and controls the second drive    device or conveyor belt drive to dispense an article into the first    or second row, depending on which row has more stacking capacity at    that position to receive another article. The detector may be    located on the carriage in order to collect information on the    current degree of filling of the stacked rows of articles at each    stacking position as the carriage is driven back and forth above the    storage area.

In one embodiment, the carriage comprises a support frame having a rearend and a forward end, and the rear end of the article conveyor belt isspaced forward from the rear end of the carriage to provide a gapthrough which articles can fall off the rear end of the conveyor beltand onto a stacking position in the rear storage row. A guide plate ispivotally mounted on the carriage at a location spaced above the gap andis biased by a suitable biasing device into a forwardly inclinedposition in which a lower edge of the guide plate is at or adjacent therear end of the article conveyor belt, to guide articles onto theconveyor belt when the carriage is in the first position below thearticle supplier. A locking mechanism is provided to lock the guideplate in the forwardly inclined position when it is under the articlesupplier. The guide plate is released when the carriage is moved awayfrom the article supplier, so that an article driven rearward on theconveyor belt can push lower edge of the plate away from the rear end ofthe conveyor belt, and then fall through the gap into a stackingposition. The biasing device then urges the guide plate back into theforwardly inclined orientation extending over the gap.

In one embodiment, a method for controlling distribution of articlesinto two rows of stacked articles in a storage compartment comprisesselecting at least one stacking position in a storage compartment fromtwo or more stacking positions in front and rear rows of articlestacking positions in a storage compartment, receiving an article ontoan article support mounted on a carriage movable back and forth in ahorizontal carriage drive direction above the rows of article stackingpositions, driving the carriage horizontally to a selected position inwhich the article support is located above the selected stackingposition, and actuating an article dispenser to drive the article in aselected front or rear article direction transverse to the carriagedrive direction to dispense the article off a front or rear end of thearticle support into the selected stacking position in the first orsecond row.

The carriage drive in one embodiment may be actuated to drive thetransport platform back and forth along the entire length of theconveyor at predetermined intervals, so that a detector on the platformmay collect information on the current heights of stacked articles atthe stacking positions in the two rows, which is then processed by acontroller in order to determine positions which have the most stackingcapacity so as to select the next stacking position for receiving anarticle, with the objective of leveling the article stacking heights ateach position.

The apparatus and method may be used in ice cube distribution machinesfor installation in supermarkets where the ice cubes are made in situaccording to need, and are packed immediately into bags, before beingdistributed into a temperature controlled storage compartment under theice cube machine.

The apparatus and method can be applied to other types of machines thanice cube distribution machines, where a large number of articles areproduced centrally above a storage compartment in which the articles areto be evenly distributed in order to utilize the capacity of the storagecompartment. Examples of such applications could be in connection with aplastic injection molding machine where a large number of articles areproduced centrally, or in connection with packing and supplying othertypes of foods, e.g. vegetables or confectionery.

In a particularly simple way there is hereby achieved the ability ofdispensing articles from an overhead conveyor into selected stackingpositions in two side-by-side rows of stacking positions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference tothe accompanying drawings, where:

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of one embodiment of an apparatus or unitfor storing and dispensing bags of ice, with the front door of a baggedice storage compartment open to reveal the article conveyor anddistribution unit;

FIG. 1B is a perspective view illustrating the bagged ice storagecompartment of FIG. 1A with a wheeled cart positioned in the compartmentto receive bags of ice for dispensing or storage;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the ice bagging, storage and dispensing unitof FIG. 1A, illustrating the bag conveyor and distribution apparatus fordistributing bagged ice into stacks in the storage area;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the bag conveyor anddistribution apparatus of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side perspective view of the carriage of the bag conveyorand distribution apparatus of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of the carriage of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of the bag conveyor and distributionapparatus of FIG. 3, partially cut away to reveal the locking mechanismwhich locks the guide plate in the inclined position for receiving a newbag of ice for distribution;

FIG. 7A is an exploded view of circled area in FIG. 6, illustrating thelocked position of the locking mechanism;

FIG. 7B is an exploded view similar to FIG. 7A illustrating the releasedposition of the guide plate with the plate urged into a generallyvertical orientation;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of the carriage similar to FIG. 6 butwith the guide plate in the released position and biased by a bag beingdriven off the rear end of the bag support or conveyor into thegenerally vertical orientation;

FIG. 9 is a front elevation view of the storage compartment of theapparatus of FIGS. 1A to 8, illustrating bags stacked in the storagecompartment while a bag is positioned on the bag carriage prior todistribution into a selected bag stacking position;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a controlsystem for controlling operation of the bag conveyor and distributionapparatus of FIGS. 1A to 9; and

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment a method ofoperating the bag distribution apparatus of FIGS. 1A to 10.

In the explanation of the Figures, identical or corresponding elementswill be provided with the same designations in different Figures.Therefore, no explanation of all details will be given in connectionwith each single Figure/embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain embodiments as disclosed herein provide a method and apparatusfor storing and dispensing serially produced article such as bags of icefrom an article production unit into predetermined article stackingpositions in an article storage area below the production unit, fromwhich consumers can retrieve one or more articles. In one embodiment,the apparatus is an ice making, bagging and dispensing machine and thestorage area is in a freezer compartment beneath ice making and baggingunits of the machines with a bagged ice distributing unit positioned inthe freezer compartment to receive bags of ice successively from the icebagging unit and to discharge or distribute the bags at selectedlocations in the compartment so as to achieve a relatively evendistribution of stacked bags of ice throughout the compartment.

After reading this description it will become apparent to one skilled inthe art how to implement the invention in various alternativeembodiments and alternative applications. However, although variousembodiments of the present invention will be described herein, it isunderstood that these embodiments are presented by way of example only,and not limitation. As such, this detailed description of variousalternative embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope orbreadth of the present invention.

In the illustrated embodiment described below, the article distributionunit or apparatus is used to transport ice in bags one by one toselected positions above a storage area in a freezer or temperaturecontrolled compartment, and to discharge or distribute the bags intostacks in the storage area. However, it will be understood that the samedistribution apparatus may be used in other applications, for example inany serial production application where a large number of articles areproduced centrally above a storage compartment in which the articles areto be evenly distributed in order to utilize the capacity of the storagecompartment. Examples of such applications could be in connection with aplastic injection molding machine where a large number of articles areproduced centrally, or in connection with packing and supplying othertypes of foods in bags or other containers, e.g. vegetables orconfectionery.

FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2 illustrate one embodiment of a bagged ice dispensingmachine 10 which has an upper, ice making unit 12, an ice collecting andbagging unit 14, and a freezer storage compartment or merchandiser 15beneath the ice collecting and bagging unit. FIG. 1B illustrates thebagged ice storage compartment or merchandiser alone, with an optionalwheeled cart 71 for receiving bags of ice, as described in more detailbelow. The ice collecting and bagging unit 14 may be the same asdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,122,689, the entire contents of which areincorporated by reference herein.

The bagged ice dispensing machine 10 of this embodiment is a relativelysmall and compact unit, and a single ice making machine is located inthe ice making unit 12, and dispenses ice in cubes or pieces into icecollectors which direct the ice in a transport path towards a bag makingstation 17, where the ice is collected into partially formed bags whichare then sealed. Sealed bags 16 are dropped through an opening individer or wall 27 onto a bagged ice distribution apparatus 20 mountedin the upper portion of the storage compartment, as described in moredetail below. Bagged ice distribution apparatus 20 is located in asuitable position to collect bags of ice dispensed from the icecollecting and bagging unit 14, as illustrated in the drawings. Thedistribution apparatus 20 is configured to transport and drop bags ofice into stacks of bagged ice in two rows A, B (a front row and a rearrow) in the floor 13 of refrigerated storage compartment 15 (FIG. 1A) orin a wheeled cart positioned in the storage compartment (see FIG. 1B).In the illustrated embodiment, the dimensions of storage compartment 15are sufficient for storing two stacks of bagged ice in each row A, B,but the compartment 15 may be made wider in alternative embodiments ifadditional capacity is desired. Compartment 15 has a door 52 in frontwall 50 for access to the interior of compartment 15 by customers orstore personnel.

Fold up ramp 19 leading into compartment 15 allows a storage cart 71 tobe wheeled into the storage compartment if desired, as illustrated inFIG. 1B, so bagged ice can be collected in the cart instead of depositedonto the floor 13. The cart can then easily be wheeled out and replacedwith an empty cart when the desired fill capacity is reached and cartscontaining bags of ice may be stored in a freezer storage area at theback of the store for use in times of high demand, for example when theice making machine cannot keep up with customer demand. Cart 71 has adrop or fold down upper front wall panel 73 which can be opened to allowaccess for customers to retrieve bags of ice from cart 71.

FIGS. 3 to 9 illustrate one embodiment of article distributing apparatusor unit 20 in more detail. Apparatus 20 is designed to distribute baggedice or other serially manufactured articles to desired stackinglocations in a storage compartment such as compartment 15 of FIGS. 1Aand 2. In the illustrated embodiment, compartment 15 is also amerchandiser or dispenser from which customers can retrieve articlessuch as bags of ice for purchase. As noted above, dividing wall 27 isprovided between the ice collecting and bagging unit 14 and the storageor freezer compartment 15. The apparatus 20 is mounted in an upperportion of the storage compartment above the storage area and beneaththe ice bagging unit 14. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 10, apparatus 20basically comprises a horizontal conveyor 22, a carriage 24 mounted onthe conveyor and movable back and forth in a horizontal directionbetween opposite sides 48 of the compartment on the conveyor, and a bagor article support 25 mounted on carriage 24 for distributing bags intospaced front and rear rows of stacked bags in the storage area, asdescribed in more detail below. In FIG. 9, the carriage 24 is positionedin a start position for receiving a bag of ice 16 dropped from icebagging unit 17 through an opening in dividing wall 27 and received ontosupport 25.

The horizontal conveyor 22 comprises a back plate or mounting plate 26having a rail or track 28 on which the carriage 24 is slideably mounted(see FIG. 3), an endless conveyor belt or chain 29 extending aroundrollers 30 at opposite ends of the track, with the carriage 24 suitablylinked to the chain in a known manner, and a first drive device or gearmotor 32 mounted at one end of back plate 26. Motor 32 drives one of therollers 30 which acts as a drive roller for the conveyor belt.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 6, carriage 24 is generally L-shapedwith a rear, generally vertical portion 124 linked to the endlessconveyor belt or chain to travel along track 28, and a lower, forwardlyprojecting portion comprising a pair of parallel support arms 125 withcross bars 126 extending between arms 125 beneath article support 25.Guide rollers 127 at opposite ends of rear cross bar 126 engage the rearwall 129 of compartment 15 to guide carriage 24 and maintain it in theproper orientation as it is driven back and forth along track 28, asbest illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6.

In the illustrated embodiment, the article support comprises an articledistributor or endless conveyor 38 mounted between arms 125 forconveying bags or other articles in forward and rearward drivedirections transverse to the carriage drive direction and off front andrear ends 40, 41 of the conveyor into the front or rear row A, B ofstacked bags, depending on the drive direction of conveyor belts 38.Conveyor belts 38 extend around guide rollers or wheels 42 rotatablymounted between arms 125, as best illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. Oneof the rollers 42 is a drive roller which is driven by a reversible bagor discharge conveyor drive or gear motor 44. In the illustratedembodiment, the article or bag support comprises a plurality ofside-by-side conveyor belts 38 each extending around a respective pairof rollers 42 at the front and rear end of the platform, but alternativeconveyors such as a single, wider endless conveyor belt or band on whicha bag is carried may be provided in alterative embodiments. In otheralternative embodiments, the article distributor may be a reversiblepusher device or the like rather than a conveyor belt on which thearticle is carried. As best illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 6, the rear end 41of article support or conveyor 38 is spaced forward from the rearportion 124 of carriage 24, leaving a gap 128 allowing the article orbag to be dropped through the gap between the rear end 41 of theconveyor and the rear portion 124 of carriage 24.

Opposite ends 40, 41 of the bag conveyor 38 are rounded, as illustratedin FIG. 6, which tends to overturn bags of ice as they are dropped offthe conveyor, as described in more detail below. Detectors 45 (FIG. 10)may be mounted on the lower face of carriage 24 to detect the height ofstacked bags in two storage rows, as described in more detail below.Additional detectors (not illustrated) may be located at differentpositions on the platform. Other detectors may be associated with eachof the conveyors and the drive devices to provide input to a controllerso that the carriage and platform can be moved to the desired positionsbased on programming of the controller and input from the variousdetectors, as discussed in more detail below in connection with FIGS. 10and 11. Alternatively, stationary detectors on the lower face of wall 27may be positioned to detect bag height in each of the bag receivingpositions in each row.

A tilted guide plate 60 extends between the upper end of the rear,vertical portion 124 of carriage 24 and the conveyor or bag support 25.Plate 60 has an upper end 62 pivotally mounted on the rear uprightportion 124 of the carriage via pivot or hinge 64, and is biasedoutwardly into a forwardly inclined orientation by spring 65 extendingaround the hinge and acting between the rear face of plate 60 and thefront of back plate 26, as best seen in FIG. 6, 7A and 7B. When in thefully extended inclined orientation of FIGS. 4, 6 and 7A, the lower edge66 of plate 60 is located above the rear of conveyor 38, blocking gap128. When the carriage is located beneath the article supplier or icebagging unit 17, as in FIGS. 3 and 7A, locking tab 68 on the upper edgeof plate 60 is positioned behind downwardly directed locking tab 70 onback plate 26. This locks the plate 60 in the inclined, guide positionwhen a bag is dropped from the bagged ice supply unit above, guiding thebag 16 smoothly onto bag support or conveyor belt 38 into the supportposition illustrated in FIG. 6. When the carriage is moved horizontallyaway from this position by more than one to two inches, the tab 68 is nolonger behind locking tab 70, and the plate is then only held in theinclined position by spring 65. Thus, when a bag 16 on the conveyor 38is driven towards the rear end 41 of the conveyor or support, asillustrated in FIG. 8, the bag contacts the lower end of plate 60, andpushes the lower end of the plate rearward toward a retracted, generallyvertical position against the action of spring 65, in a similar mannerto a spring loaded letter box flap, and into the position illustrated inFIGS. 7B and 8, so that the bag can fall down through the gap 128 ontothe rear row of stacked bags. Once the bag falls down through gap oropening 128, the compressed spring 65 is released and springs outwardinto the position of FIG. 7A, returning the plate to the forwardlyinclined orientation of FIGS. 3, 4 and 6.

A partially formed bag at bag forming and filling station in the unit 14is filled with ice until a predetermined weight is reached. Duringfilling, the lower end of the bag is suspended through the openingbetween units 14 and 15 above inclined guide plate 60, so that the iceis within the freezer compartment, to reduce melting. At the start of abag distribution procedure, the carriage 24 is located in a first orstart position beneath unit 14, with plate 60 locked in the forwardlyinclined guide position. When the desired weight of ice in bag 16 isreached, more film is fed to the bag forming and filling station and thepartially filled bag is lowered onto guide plate 60 and released,sliding down along plate 60 and onto the conveyor 38. The platformconveyor drive 44 may be actuated to drive the conveyor 38 forward totransport the bag from plate 60 fully onto support or conveyor 38. Inone embodiment, operation of the components of unit 14 and unit 20during positioning of a bag on the platform prior to distribution intothe compartment 12 are controlled and coordinated by an ice making andbagging controller 102 and bag distribution controller 100 asillustrated in FIG. 10. The ice making and bagging controller 102 isdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,122,689 referenced above and incorporatedherein by reference, and reference is made to that application for adetailed description of controller 102.

The storage compartment 15 in the illustrated embodiment is ofpredetermined dimensions for providing front and rear rows A, B of bagstorage positions, with two bag stacks in each row. Bags may be droppedinto the base of the compartment, as illustrated in FIG. 1, or into awheeled storage cart 71 positioned in the compartment beneath the bagdistributing unit 20, as in FIG. 1A. A greater or lesser number ofstorage positions may be provided in alternative embodiments, dependingon the dimensions of the storage compartment. FIG. 10 illustrates oneembodiment of a control system which controls the sequence of bagdropping into the storage positions so as to maintain the height ofstacked bags at each storage position approximately level. The controlsystem is similar in some respects to that described in US Pat. App.Pub. No. 2012-0070264 referenced above, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference, with the main difference being thefact that no carriage rotatable drive or control for such a drive isneeded in the system of this embodiment. Controller 100 has a fill leveldetection module 110 which is programmed to periodically monitor theheight of stacked bags at each storage position based on input fromdetectors 45 as the bag support carriage 25 is driven horizontally backand forth between opposite sides of the compartment, and to calculatethe positions with the lowest fill level. Controller 100 furthercomprises a distribution control module 112 which controls the firstdrive device 32 which drives carriage back and forth above the storagearea, and the bag conveyor drive motor 44 to drive the bag conveyorbelts 38 in a forward or rearward direction to drop the bag into aselected drop or discharge position above a storage position in thefront or rear row selected based on the current fill level informationfrom module 110 or based on a pre-selected bag drop sequence. Detectorinformation for use in selection of the next discharge position may begathered both as the platform is being driven to a currently selectedbag discharge position, and in periodic detection sequences in which theplatform is driven along the entire length of each row while empty. Theobjective is leveling of the multiple bag stacks. Different storagepositions may have an order of preference such that when differentstorage positions have about the same fill level or are empty, thecontroller selects a discharge position using the order of preference.

One or more door opening detectors 104 may be associated with the door52 for detecting opening of the doors, as described in U.S. Pat. No.8,122,689 and US Pat. App. Pub. No. 20120070264 referenced above. Thecontroller 100 also monitors the number of times a door is opened andmay initiate a fill level detection sequence if the bag is opened morethan a predetermined number of times within a certain time period, andmay also provide a control signal to ice making and bagging controller102 increase the speed of the ice making, bag making and bag fillingprocedure in times of increased purchase of bagged ice, for exampleduring holiday seasons and in hot weather. Controllers 100 and 102 arealso configured to switch off the ice making, collecting and bagging aswell as the bag distribution unit 20 while a door is open, since bagsshould not be dropped into the compartment 15 while a customer isretrieving one or more bags of ice, as well as when the storagecompartment is full to the desired capacity at each bag stackingposition. As noted above, if a cart 71 is used to collect bags of ice,ice making, collecting, bagging and distribution is switched off if thecart is full to a desired capacity, for example to allow a storeemployee to retrieve the loaded cart and replace it with an empty cart.

In one embodiment, each detector 45 may be a proximity or distancedetector such as an infra red (IR) sensor, a photoelectric sensor, orthe like which detects the height of successive stacks of bags in eachof the rows and provides the height or fill level information to thecontroller 100, which stores the information and also determines acurrent bag drop sequence based on the fill level information. Thedetector may simply detect whether or not a stack of bags is at thedesired maximum height, or may determine distance to the top of a stack,so that the controller or processor 100 can determine if a storageposition is completely empty, as well as the approximate bag stackheight or amount of fill of the stack. The latter is preferred since thecontroller may then be programmed to control the distributing apparatus20 to maintain the stacks as level as possible, i.e. dropping bags atselected locations to keep the stack heights relatively even. Thesensors on the platform support arm 33 are positioned so that stackheights at aligned positions in both rows may be determinedsimultaneously.

In one embodiment, the lowest points detected by detectors 45 are storedand sent to controller 100 for determining the bag delivery ordistribution sequence. The bag delivery sequence is controlled to dropbags at the lowest detected positions from the previous sensingsequence, and to try to maintain the bag stacks at approximately thesame heights. Sensing may be performed during bag distribution onwherever a predetermined number of door openings is detected. If thecompartment or cart is filled to the desired capacity, the ice makingand bagging unit 14 and distributor apparatus or unit 20 may be turnedoff until bags have been removed and re-filling is required. Unit 14 andthe bag distributing unit or apparatus 20 are also turned off when adoor open detection signal is received, so that bags are not droppedinto the freezer compartment when a customer is attempting to remove oneor more bags of ice for purchase.

One embodiment of a bag transport and discharge method using theapparatus of FIGS. 1A to 10 is illustrated in the flow diagram of FIG.11. On start up of the machine 10 (step 110), ice making and bagging iscontrolled by the controller 102 of unit 14, while bag distributioncontroller 100 of FIG. 12 controls bag transport and distributing unit20. FIG. 2 illustrates a bag 16 which has just dropped down onto the bagsupport or conveyor 25 which is positioned in a start positionimmediately under an opening in wall 27 between ice making and baggingunit 14 and storage compartment 15. In one embodiment, the opening maybe located under the bag forming and filling station of the ice makingand bagging unit so that a filled bag extends through the opening ontoguide plate 60 before the upper end of the bag is sealed and cut. Asdescribed above, the lower end of the bag may rest on the guide plateduring the sealing and cutting procedure. Once sealing and cutting iscomplete, the bag of ice slides down inclined guide plate 60 onto bagsupport 38 (step 112). A suitable detector (not illustrated) may belocated on the platform to detect when a bag is received on theplatform, or a signal from the bag forming and filling station may besent to controller 100 each time a bag is sealed and cut off. If needed,the bag conveyor 38 may be driven forward a short distance so as todrive the bag into a horizontal orientation on the platform.

The next storage position for dropping or discharging the bag fromconveyor 38 is then selected using information from the detector sensingsequence (step 114). Once a drop position has been selected, thecontroller actuates the first or carriage conveyor drive 32 to drive thecarriage to the selected drop position (step 115). The carriage conveyordrive 32 is then turned off. If the selected bag drop position is in thefront row (step 116), the bag conveyor drive or second drive device 44is driven forwards so as to move conveyor 38 in a forward directionuntil the bag drops off the front end 40 of the conveyor (step 118).Bags tend to turn over as they fall off the front end of the conveyorand drop down into the selected stacking position in the front row. Ifthe selected bag drop position is in the rear row, the conveyor orsecond drive device 44 is reversed so as to move the conveyor 38 in arearward direction (step 120) until the bag pushes the guide plate 60aside and drops from the rear end 41 of the platform through gap 128 andinto a stacking position in the rear row. The first drive device 32 isthen actuated to drive the carriage back to the start position under thebag supplier (step 122), and the process is repeated. At any stage, theprocess may be stopped if a door open condition is detected or if theice stacks are at the selected capacity or height, and is re-startedonce the door is closed or the height of stacked bags is reduced to apredetermined level.

The method and apparatus described above allows bags filled with ice orother serially produced articles to be successively delivered to storagepositions in front and rear rows of storage positions, without changingthe direction of the bag support or conveyor. Rather than being randomlyand inefficiently stacked in a single pile forming a pyramid, the bagsare relatively evenly distributed in separate stacks across the entirestorage area, increasing storage capacity. The number of storagepositions in each row depends on the bag size and the width of thestorage compartment, with a small storage compartment having two to sixstorage or bag stacking positions per row, but a greater or lessernumber of storage positions may be provided in alternative embodiments,depending on the size of the bag or article to be distributed, as wellas the dimensions of the storage compartment 15. In the illustratedembodiment, the apparatus is designed so that bags are orientedhorizontally on the conveyor 38 with a first face facing upwards as thecarriage is driven to a drop off position. The rounded ends 40 and 41are designed so that bags tend to rotate as they are rolled off theplatform, flipping or turning over and dropping into an underlying pileof bags with a second face facing upwards. The arrangement is such thatbags tend to always flip through one half revolution as they fall offthe platform, and land in the same orientation on top of each stack,regardless of the stack height. This helps to maintain even stacking ofbags in adjacent stacks or piles along the length of each row, whileallowing a desired face of the bag with consumer information to faceupwards to provide information to consumers considering purchase. Sincebags rotate inward as they rotate off the ends of the bag conveyor,rather than outward, the space between bags stacked in the front andrear rows is less than the conveyor length, i.e. the space between thefront and rear ends 40, 41 of the conveyor. For example, if the conveyorlength is around 9 inches, the gap between the front and rear rows ofstacked bags is around three inches, or ⅓ of the conveyor length. Thus,space in the storage compartment is conserved while providing a simpleand efficient mechanism for dropping bags into two side-by-side rows. Inone embodiment, the front end of the article conveyor or support ispositioned above the center of the front row, while the rear end ispositioned above the center of the rear row.

The article distribution apparatus and method described above organizesproducts in substantially uniform stacks so that it is relatively easyfor customers to pick up a product such as a bag of ice. This alsoincreases storage capacity by up to 50%, and reduces labor costspreviously incurred when personnel had to manually level uneven stacksof bagged ice. The degree of filling of the compartment can be remotelymonitored with the monitoring used to control both ice making and bagdistribution. This allows quicker start up and more efficientutilization of the ice making units, which can be turned off whenmonitoring indicates that the storage compartment is completely full,and re-started as soon as the level of stacked bags is detected to beuneven or low.

The article distribution method and apparatus is described above inconnection with an ice machine in which ice chunks or cubes are made,collected, directed into partially formed bags at a bag making andfilling station, and the bagged ice is then dropped onto thedistribution apparatus for distribution into a storage compartment toform substantially uniform and even stacks of bagged ice. However, theapparatus and method may also be used in other applications where alarge number of articles are produced centrally above a storagecompartment in which the articles are to be evenly distributed, in orderto utilize the capacity of the storage compartment. Examples of suchapplications are plastic injection molding machines where a large numberof articles are produced centrally, or in connection with packing andsupplying other types of articles or foods in bags or other containers,e.g. vegetables, snack foods, confectionary, office supplies, electroniccomponents, or the like. For non-food articles, the storage compartmentmay not need to be temperature controlled. In each case, the articlesmay be dispensed into a storage compartment at a store which also actsas a merchandiser for the articles, or in a storage facility where thearticles may be later packaged and shipped.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, circuits, and method steps described inconnection with the above described figures and the embodimentsdisclosed herein can often be implemented as electronic hardware,computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate thisinterchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrativecomponents, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been describedabove generally in terms of their functionality. Whether suchfunctionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon theparticular application and design constraints imposed on the overallsystem. Skilled persons can implement the described functionality invarying ways for each particular application, but such implementationdecisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from thescope of the invention. In addition, the grouping of functions within amodule, block, circuit or step is for ease of description. Specificfunctions or steps can be moved from one module, block or circuit toanother without departing from the invention.

Moreover, the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and methodsdescribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can beimplemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digitalsignal processor (“DSP”), an ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logicdevice, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components,or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions describedherein. A general-purpose processor can be hardware such as amicroprocessor, or any processor, controller, or microcontroller, andthe processing can be performed on a single piece of hardware ordistributed across multiple servers or running on multiple computersthat are housed in a local area or dispersed across different geographiclocations. A processor can also be implemented as a combination ofcomputing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and amicroprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

Additionally, the steps of a method or algorithm described in connectionwith the embodiments disclosed herein can be embodied directly inhardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in acombination of the two. A software module can reside in RAM memory,flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, harddisk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage mediumincluding a network storage medium. An exemplary storage medium can becoupled to the processor such the processor can read information from,and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, thestorage medium can be integral to the processor. The processor and thestorage medium can also reside in an ASIC.

The above description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enableany person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Variousmodifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and the generic principles described herein can beapplied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scopeof the invention. Thus, it is to be understood that the description anddrawings presented herein represent a presently preferred embodiment ofthe invention and are therefore representative of the subject matterwhich is broadly contemplated by the present invention. It is furtherunderstood that the scope of the present invention fully encompassesother embodiments that may become obvious to those skilled in the artand that the scope of the present invention is accordingly limited bynothing other than the appended claims.

1. A method of operating a system for distributing a plurality ofarticles into a storage unit, comprising: distributing an article ontoan article support on a transport carriage of an article distributingapparatus positioned in a start position above a storage area within astorage unit, the storage area having opposite sides, a front, and arear, and the article support having a front end and a rear end;selecting a storage position in the storage area from at least twoadjacent article storage positions in front and rear rows beneath thearticle support; driving the carriage in a reversible horizontalcarriage transport direction to a location above the selected storageposition; actuating an article distributor to transport the article in afirst horizontal article transport direction towards the front of thestorage area and transverse to the carriage transport direction off thefront end of the article support if the selected storage position is inthe front row and in a second horizontal article transport directionopposite to the first horizontal article transport direction off therear end of the article support if the selected storage position is inthe rear row; driving the transport carriage back to the start positionto receive a subsequent article to be distributed into the storage area;and repeating the foregoing steps to distribute a plurality of articlesone by one to selected storage positions in the storage area.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the article support comprises a conveyor beltand the article distributor comprises a reversible drive deviceconfigured to drive the belt in opposite forward and rearwarddirections, and the step of transporting the article selectively off thefront and rear of the platform comprises activating the drive device todrive the belt in a forward direction to drive an article off the frontend of the conveyor belt and activating the drive device to drive thebelt in a rearward direction to drive an article off the rear end of theconveyor belt.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the articles are bagsof ice received from an ice making and bagging machine and the storagearea comprises a temperature controlled storage unit.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, further comprising positioning each bag received on the articlesupport in a horizontal orientation with a first face of the bag upwardsprior to driving the carriage to the selected storage position.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the step of positioning each bag comprisesguiding bags along an inclined guide from the ice making and baggingmachine and onto the article support.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising positioning a wheeled cart in the storage unit to define astorage area for receiving articles distributed by the articledistribution apparatus, whereby articles are selectively stacked infront and rear stacking positions in the wheeled cart.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the front and rear storage rows each have two storagepositions for receiving stacked articles.
 8. An apparatus fordistributing a series of articles at a plurality of storage positions ina storage compartment, comprising: a storage compartment having anarticle storage area having a rear, a front, and opposite sides; acarriage movably mounted in an upper portion of the storage compartmentabove the storage area; a horizontal drive linked to the carriage andconfigured to drive the carriage back and forth in a reversiblehorizontal carriage transport direction above the storage area andextending across at least part of the width of the storage area betweenopposite sides of the storage compartment; an article support movablymounted on the carriage and configured for supporting an articledispensed from an article supply onto the support, the article supporthaving a front end and a rear end; an article distributor associatedwith the article support and configured for selectively driving articlesin opposite horizontal article transport directions transverse to thehorizontal carriage transport direction off the front and rear end ofthe support, respectively, into storage positions in front and rear rowsof storage positions in the storage area, the front end of the articlesupport being located above the front row of storage positions andspaced from the front of the article storage area, and the rear end ofthe article support being located above the rear row of storagepositions and spaced from the rear of the article storage area; and acontroller associated with the horizontal carriage drive and the articledistributor which is configured to control the horizontal carriage driveto drive the carriage to a location in which the front or rear end ofthe article support is above a selected storage position in the front orrear row, respectively, and to control the article distributor toselectively drive the article in a first article transport directiontowards the front of the storage compartment and off the front end ofthe article support to drop into a selected storage position in thefront row, and to selectively drive the article in a second, oppositearticle transport direction towards the rear of the storage compartmentand off the rear end of the article support to drop into a selectedstorage position in the rear row.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, whereinthe front and rear storage rows each have at least two storage positionsfor receiving stacked articles.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, furthercomprising a wheeled cart removably positionable in the storagecompartment below the carriage, the cart having a basket defining atleast one article storage area for selectively receiving articles infront and rear rows.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the storagecompartment has a floor defining a second article storage area forselectively receiving articles into storage positions in front and rearrows on the floor of the storage compartment when no wheeled cart ispositioned in the storage compartment.
 12. The apparatus of claim 8,wherein the article support comprises an endless article conveyormounted on the carriage and the article distributor comprises a seconddrive device configured to drive the conveyor in opposite front and reardirections to drive articles selectively off the front and rear ends ofthe article conveyor and into storage positions in the front and rearrows.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising rollers atopposite ends of the article support about which said article conveyorextends, whereby portions of the article conveyor extending over therollers define opposite first and second convex, rounded ends of thearticle support, and the article conveyor is configured to rotatearticles as they are driven off the opposite ends, whereby each articleflips over as it falls off the conveyor onto a stack of articles in aselected storage position.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein thearticle conveyor comprises one or more endless conveyor belts extendingover the rollers.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein a firstdistance comprising a gap between front and rear rows of stackedarticles in the storage area is less than a second distance between thefront and rear ends of the article support.
 16. The apparatus of claim15, wherein the first distance is approximately one third of the seconddistance.
 17. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the carriage comprises asupport frame having a rear end linked to the horizontal drive and aforwardly projecting portion, the article support is mounted on theforwardly projecting portion of the carriage, and the rear end of thearticle support is spaced forward from the rear end of the carriage toprovide a gap through which articles can fall off the rear end of thesupport into a stacking position in the rear storage row.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 17, further comprising a guide plate pivotallymounted on the rear end of the support frame at a location spaced abovethe gap and movable between a forwardly inclined position extending overthe gap in which a lower edge of the guide plate is adjacent the rearend of the article support and a retracted position in which the loweredge of the guide plate is spaced rearward from the rear end of thearticle support to allow articles to be driven off the rear end of thearticle support to fall into a storage position in the rear row.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 18, further comprising a biasing device which biasesthe guide plate into the forwardly inclined position.
 20. The apparatusof claim 19, further comprising an article supplier located above thestorage compartment having an outlet through which articles are suppliedonto the article support, the guide plate comprising a guide fordirecting articles supplied through the outlet onto the article supportwhen the carriage is located in a start position under the articlesupplier.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising a lockingmechanism configured to lock the guide plate in the forwardly inclinedposition when the carriage is located in the start position, the lockingmechanism being released when the carriage is moved away from the startposition, whereby an article on the article support driven rearward bythe article distributor urges the guide plate towards the retractedposition to allow the article to fall off the rear end of the articlesupport and through the gap into a selected storage position in the rearrow.
 22. A bagged ice storage and dispensing system, comprising: atemperature controlled storage unit having an internal storage area, anupper wall, a lower wall, a front wall, a rear wall, and opposite sides,at least one door in the front wall allowing access to the storage area;a bagged ice supply unit located above the storage unit and having anoutlet for supplying bags of ice to the storage unit; an opening in theupper wall communicating with the outlet of the bagged ice supplier; anda bag distributing unit mounted in an upper portion of the storage unitabove the storage area, the distributing unit comprising a carriage, ahorizontal carriage drive linked to the carriage and configured to drivethe carriage back and forth in a reversible horizontal carriagetransport direction between a start position under the bagged ice supplyunit and one or more selected article distributing positions above thestorage area, an article support movably mounted on the carriage andconfigured for supporting a bag of ice dispensed from the bagged icesupply unit through the opening and onto the support, the articlesupport having a front end and a rear end, and an article distributorassociated with the article support and configured for selectivelydriving articles in opposite horizontal article transport directionstransverse to the horizontal carriage transport direction off the frontand rear end of the support into storage positions in front and rearrows of storage positions in the storage area; the front end of thearticle support being located above the front row of storage positionsand spaced from the front of the article storage area, and the rear endof the article support being located above the rear row of storagepositions and spaced from the rear of the article storage area.
 23. Thesystem of claim 22, further comprising a controller associated with thehorizontal carriage drive and bag distributor and configured to drivethe carriage between the start position and selected bag distributingpositions and to control the bag distributor to selectively drive a bagin a first article transport direction towards the front of the storagecompartment and off the front end of the bag support to drop into aselected storage position in the front row, and to selectively drive abag in a second, opposite article transport direction towards the rearof the storage compartment and off the rear end of the bag support todrop into a selected storage position in the rear row.
 24. The system ofclaim 22, wherein the front and rear storage rows each have at least twostorage positions for receiving stacked articles.
 25. The system ofclaim 22, further comprising a wheeled cart removably positionable inthe storage compartment below the carriage, the cart having a basketdefining at least one bag storage area for selectively receiving bags ofice stacked in front and rear storage positions in the basket.
 26. Thesystem of claim 22, wherein the bag support comprises at least oneendless bag conveyor belt mounted on the carriage and the bagdistributor comprises a second drive device configured to drive theconveyor belt in opposite front and rear directions to drive bags of iceselectively off the front and rear ends of the conveyor belt and intostorage positions in the front and rear rows.
 27. The apparatus of claim26, further comprising rollers at opposite ends of the bag support aboutwhich said at least one endless conveyor belt extends, whereby portionsof the conveyor belt extending over the rollers define opposite firstand second convex, rounded ends, and the conveyor belt is configured torotate bags of ice on the belt as they are driven off the belt, wherebyeach bag flips over as it falls off the at least one endless conveyorbelt onto a stack of articles in a selected storage position.
 28. Theapparatus of claim 27, wherein said at least one endless conveyor beltcomprises a plurality of side-by-side conveyor belts extending aroundthe rollers.
 29. The system of claim 2, wherein a first distancecomprising a gap between stacked bags of ice in front and rear rows inthe storage area is less than a second distance between the front andrear ends of the bag support.
 30. The system of claim 22, wherein thecarriage comprises a support frame having a rear end linked to thehorizontal drive and a forwardly projecting portion, the bag support ismounted on the forwardly projecting portion of the carriage, and therear end of the bag support is spaced forward from the rear end of thecarriage to provide a gap through which bags of ice can fall off therear end of the support into a stacking position in the rear storagerow.
 31. The system of claim 30, further comprising a guide platepivotally mounted on the rear end of the support frame at a locationspaced above the gap and movable between a forwardly inclined positionextending over the gap in which a lower edge of the guide plate isadjacent the rear end of the bag support and a retracted position inwhich the lower edge of the guide plate is spaced from the rear end ofthe bag support to allow bags of ice to be driven off the rear end ofthe support to fall into a storage position in the rear row.
 32. Thesystem of claim 31, further comprising a biasing device which biases theguide plate into the forwardly inclined position.
 33. The system ofclaim 31, wherein the guide plate comprises a guide for directing bagsof ice supplied through the outlet of the bagged ice supply unit ontothe bag support when the carriage is located in a start position underthe outlet.
 34. The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising a lockingmechanism configured to lock the guide plate in the forwardly inclinedposition when the carriage is located in the start position, the lockingmechanism being released when the carriage is moved away from the startposition, whereby a bag of ice on the bag support driven rearward by thebag distributor urges the guide plate towards the retracted position toallow the bag of ice to fall off the rear end of the article support andthrough the gap into a selected storage position in the rear row.
 35. Abagged ice dispensing machine, comprising: a temperature controlledstorage compartment having an internal storage area having at least arear row and a front row of bagged ice storage positions for storingadjacent stacks of bags containing ice, the storage compartment havingan upper wall with an opening for receiving bags of ice into the storagecompartment; a bag distributing unit in an upper portion of the storageunit above the bagged ice storage positions, the distributing unitcomprising a carriage, a horizontal carriage drive linked to thecarriage and configured to drive the carriage back and forth in areversible horizontal carriage transport direction between a startposition under the opening and one or more selected bag distributingpositions above the storage area, a bag support movably mounted on thecarriage and configured for supporting a bag of ice dispensed throughthe opening and onto the support, the bag support having a front endabove the front row of bagged ice storage positions and a rear end abovethe rear row of bagged ice storage positions, and a bag distributorassociated with the bag support and configured for selectively drivingbags of ice in opposite horizontal bag transport directions transverseto the horizontal carriage transport direction off the front and rearend of the support into storage positions in front and rear rows ofstorage positions in the storage area; an ice collecting and baggingunit mounted above the storage compartment and having a bagged iceoutlet communicating with the opening in the upper wall of the storagecompartment and at least one ice receiving inlet at an upper end of theice collecting and bagging unit, the ice collecting and bagging unitconfigured to collect ice from the ice receiving inlet, supply apredetermined amount of ice to successive bags, and supply bags of iceto the bagged ice outlet; an ice making unit mounted above the icecollecting and bagging unit and having an ice outlet communicating withthe ice receiving inlet; and a controller associated with ice makingunit, ice bagging unit, and bag distributing unit which has an icemaking and bagging control module configured to control the ice makingand bagging units based on detected storage capacity in the storagecompartment, and a bag distribution control module which controls thebag distributing unit to distribute bags to selected unfilled storagepositions in the storage compartment.